Portable electric flashlight



. 1a. F. M uLDooN PORTABLE ELECTRICI FLASHLIGHT Filed' sept. 21; 194sAll sept. 2s,` 1,944.

f 3-3 of Fig. 2; and f Patented Sept. 26, 1944 Bernard Francis Muldoon,Caldwell, N. J., assigner to Henry Hyman,y New York, N Y;

Application september 21, 1943,- serial No. 503,1835

, This invention relates to portable electric flashlights.

.The mainobject of the invention is to provide Other objects of thisinvention will 1n part be obvious andinY part hereinafter pointed out.

The invention accordingly consists in the fea-Y tures of construction,combinations-of'elements,

and arrangement of parts which will be eXempli-.l

fied in the construction hereinafterdescribed;v and of which the scopeof application will be indicated in the claims.

Certain features shown and/,or described andvr notI claimed herein areshown, described and claimedY in my copending applications Serial No.377,983, led February 8, 1941, and Serial No; 503,182, filed September21, 1943. I In the accompanying drawing, in which is shown one ofthevarious possible embodiments of this invention, f Fig. 1 is a front toback central longitudinal sectionthrough a flashlight embodying theinvention; .5 Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section taken substantially alongthe line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view through theV head of the flashlight taken,substantially along `the line 1 Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. v3 withthe head assembly removed. 1f

ll'teferringr now `in detail to the drawill. the iiashlight I0 embodyingthe invention therey shown comprises a battery casing I2, a headassembly I4, Va base assembly I6 and anj electrica1 system whichincludes a switch I8 and various partsof the head and rear assemblies.

.By Way of example, the casing I2 is for the anglehead type ofiiashlight and consists of a body portion 20 of cylindrical tubularshape and an'v integral angularly disposed cylindrical tubular headportion 22 molded from plastic electrically non-conductive material suchas phenol condensate or cellulose acetate butyrate.

Between the head and body portions is provided a partition 24 whichcomprises a continuation of awall of the head casing portion 22 insideyofthe casing I2, said wall thus being of arcuate substantiallysemi-circular configuration as shown in Fig. 2. The body casing portion20 houses a sourceA of 'energy such as a set of batteries B, the lowermost of which compresses` a battery spring 2li which bears against thezinc cup thereof. Said battery spring rests against a ledge 28 in abottom closure cap 30 and contacts a ferrule 32 nested in the bottom ofthe body portion of the casing. `'l'he ferrule in turn is in electricalcontact with an electrically conductive strip 34 running to the switchI8.

1 -The switch I8 is adapted to make and break an electric circuitbetween .the conductive strip 34 and another electrically conductivestrip 36. Said second strip Alies in al channelSB formed by apair ofspaced ridges 40, 42 extending parallel to the longitudinal axis ofthebody portion 20. The Achannel 38 extends through an opening 39 inthepartition 24 to permit the strip 36 to passY freely from the interior ofthe body portiony to the interior of the head portion.

At the upper end of the strip there is provided an angled extension 44which runs from the strip toward the iront of the head in a directionsubstantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the head portion 22.,The tip of this angled extension 44 is adapted to make electric contactwith the electrically conductive parabolicreflector 46 which itselfis inelectric contact with one of the terminals of the lamp 48.

However, rit has proven` extremely difliclt to insure goodfcontactbetween the tip of this angled extension and the reflector, particularlywhere the casing is of a molded plastic material,V

To overcome this diiiculty and provide an inexpensive, simple andpositive electrical connection between the battery and a reflector, thefollowing construction is employed: J=

Asmall tapered pin.50 ntegrallyextends from the casing. Said pinrunsparallel to the longitudinal axis of the head casing portion 22 Vand issecuredthereto byanintegral wall 52 .which stops short of the tiprof thepin-so as to provide a slot -54 whose wallsare spaced radially of thelongitudinal axis-of. the head .portionof the casing andwhichfacestoward thefront ofr said portion. 'f f y The interiordiameterof the front end of said head portion is enlarged and providedon its outer surface with threads whichare adapted to mesh with'thefemale threads of a lens ring` 56. Said lens` ring clamps a lens 58 anda flange 66 on .the parabolic reector 46between the lens ring and theforward end of the head portionv 22. 'Due to the enlargement of theforward end of said head portion a flaring fillet 62 is formed betweenthe part of the casing including the slot' tion 22 lying in thesame'radial plane as said Y slot.

' Due to the presenceof this obstruction, when' theV head assembly,including the-reflector 46, is mounted on the head casing portion 22,the refiector will first contact the tip of the angled extension 44while it is disposed in its relaxed position shown in Fig. 4. As thereflector is urged inwardly it will force the tip of said extensionoutwardly. This first results in shifting the conductor 36 away from theinner wall 54a of the slot, into engagement with which it is biased whenrelaxed, and urging said conductor against the outer wall 54h of theslot. Further radially outward shifting of the tip ofthe angled wall 54aand reflector 46, as shown in Fig. 3. This construction thus insuresgood electrical contact between the extension and the reflectorv andfirmly anchors theupper end of the extension in position once the headassembly has been screwed on the casing. It will be appreciated thatsince the foregoing construction firmly secures one end of the'strip 36in position, the latter need be held to the casing at but one morekpoint and must be so mounted that said tip will be engaged automaticallyby the reflector 46 during positioning of the head assembly. Accordinglysaid strip is permanently secured to the casing only by a rivet 64 whichelectrically connects the stripto the'switch I8. Although the rivetvbinds the strip against the casing thestrip'may be rotated about saidrivet and it is maintained in proper position for contact-with thereflector by its disposal in the channel 38. In addition,` since thestrip passes through the opening 39 inthe partition 24, it cannot beangularly deflected, even accidentally, to such a position that it willnot engage the reflector during mounting of the head assembly.

It will be noted that when thetip of the'strip 36 engages the reflectorthe strip maybe rotated about the rivet 64 and forced against the baseof the slot 54. This further serves to securely anchor the strip in thecasing so that a good electrical contact will be maintained between thestrip and the reflector as long as the head assembly is in position.

It will be understood that the foregoing construction can be employed inany flashlight wherein one leg :of the electric-circuit which energizesthe lamp 48 from the batteries B includes the reflector 46 for suchlamp. By way of exam'-v ple, I have illustrated one such flashlight inwhich an electrically conductive threaded ferrule 66 is clinched aroundthe opening at the rear of the reflector in such manner as to provide aninwardly directed flange 68 against which the flange 'l0 of the lamp 48is seated, The lamp flange is held in this position by a plug 12 ofinsulating material which is screwed into the ferrule. Said plug has acentral bore through which the lamp base freely passes. The centralterminal 14 of the lamp extends beyond said plug to engage a resilientelectrically conductive contact 16 which is fixed to the partition 24 bya rivet 18. This rivet extends through the partition to Contact thecentral electrode 80 of the uppermost battery thus completing theenergizing circuit for the lamp when the switch I8 is closed.

It will thus be seen that I have provided a device in which the severalobjects of the invention are achieved, and which is well adapted to meettheconditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention,and as various changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth,it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in theaccompanying drawing is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in alimiting sense. U y

Having thus described ymy, invention, I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent:

1 A portable electric flashlight comprising a casing of insulatingmaterial, a head assembly adapted to be detachably mounted on one end ofsaid casing, the head assembly receiving portion of said casing beinghollow and having an internal protuberance, said assembly including areflector of electrically conductive material which is movedlongitudinally inwardly of said portion during mounting of the headassembly and a f lamp whereof one terminal is in electrical contact withsaid reflector, said reflector beingl included in one leg of an electriccircuit for energizing said-lamp from a battery .in the casing, anelectrically conductive strip'inside and extending longitudinally ofsaid casing portion, the tip of said strip being so disposed as toengage said reflector during mounting of the head assembly and be forcedradially outward thereby, another part of said strip being so disposedas to be forced against and pivoted upon said protuberance as said tipis moved radially outwardly, and still another part of said strip beingso disposed as to be forced radially inwardly as said strip pivots aboutsaid protuberance, and means to restrict the radial inward movement ofsaid last named strip part whereby the strip will be bowed as its tipisforced radially outwardly during mounting of the head assembly so thatthe strip is anchored and good electrical contact is secured betweensaid strip and the reflector.

2. A flashlight as set forth in claim 1 wherein the means forrestricting radial inward movement of the strip part comprises a'pinintegrally formed with said casing and having a portion thereof spacedradially inwardly therefrom to provide a slot between the pin and theVcasing.

3. A flashlight as set forth in claim 1 wherein the forward end of thecasing portion whereon the head assembly is mounted has an innerdiameter greater than the inner diameter of the portion of the casing onwhichmeans is provided to restrict inward radial movement of the strippart, and wherein the protuberance about which the strip pivotscomprises the section of the casing at which the inner casing diameteris enlarged.

'4. A flashlight as set forth in claim l wherein the casing has a bodyportion integrally connected to the headv assembly receiving portion anddisposed at right angles thereto, said two casing portions having anintegral `partition therebetween which is disposed within the casing andwherein the conductive strip has an angled leg freely extending throughsaid partition and anchored in said body portion- 5. A flashlight as setforth in vclaim l'wherein the casing has a body portion Aintegrallyconnected to the head assembly receiving portion and disposed at rightangles thereto, said two casing portions having an integral Vpartitiontherebetween which is disposed within the casing and wherein theconductive strip has an angled leg freely extending through saidpartition and anchored in said body portion at a single point aboutwhich it may be rotated.

BERNARD FRANCIS MULDOON.

